


Accidental Father

by Monsterunderthefedora



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 17,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15066791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsterunderthefedora/pseuds/Monsterunderthefedora
Summary: While investigating an android chop shop the Detroit police find a surprise in Connor, an RK 800 processor in the body of a YK 500. And until Cyberlife can process all the evidence from the case Hank finds himself stuck with Connor who he does begin to grow attached to even though he knows that after a week Connor will be disassembled.





	1. What the Fuck

"Jesus fuck, why the hell am I always the one stuck in lookout?" Hank grumbled into his head set as he looked up from the burger he'd been eating in his car over to the building they were surveying.

"Because you came into my office this morning barely able to stand on your own Anderson. Now shut the fuck up and do your God damn job," Captain Fowler's voice practically yelled through the device making Hank flinch at the sudden noise that only aggravated his hangover further.

"Whatever," the older man rolled his eyes as he tuned out and looked back at the innocuous hideout. A local gang was running an android chop shop where they'd steal andoids then chop them up and rebuild them with different parts/processors before illegally reselling them. Cyberlife had been breathing down their necks over an android in particular that had been stolen, a state of the art RK800 named Connor and they didn't want anyone else to learn more about the prototype android. Hank hadn't met the hunk of plastic yet and he already hated the thing for making him have to fill out all the extra paperwork that came with it.

He was snapped out of his train of thought when a car pulled in. Looking on he saw two men get out of the car carrying a box before disappearing inside the building. This was it.

"Move in, now!" Hank yelled as he exited the car, following the armed officers into the building.

"This is the police!" One of the android officers near Hank yelled out. "Please surrender or we'll be forced to-" It was cut off by a bullet to the head that knocked it to the ground, splattering blue blood all over Hank who quickly shot back at the man. It was a matter of minutes before all the gang members inside the building were apprehended. 

"Alright!" Hank shouted to the men who looked to him, "everyone look through the building and grab every piece of evidence you can find. And keep an eye out for this fancy Cyberlife prototype, the sooner we find it, the sooner we can go home."

"More like go to a bar," Gavin snorted as Hank glared at him.

"You shut the fuck up or I'll personally make sure you get to clean the bathrooms for the next week."

"Yeah sure," Gavin walked away as Hank grumbled something before walking through the building. It was littered with androids and android parts all in various states of disrepair. The lieutenant find himself stepping over a knocked down crate of disconnected android arms. He had to admit that this place was slightly unnerving as he treaded inwards when he heard something behind him. Looking back Hank saw something just dart behind a crate as he pulled his gun up again.

"Hey! Get the fuck out with your hands up right now." It took a moment before the figure moved out from the shadows to reveal a child's body with their hands up.

"Please don't shoot, my name is Connor. I am an android from Cyberlife."

"...what the fuck?"


	2. Stuck With You

"So is there anything wrong with it?" The police technician looked over the strange child like android from the raid with curiosity before shaking her head as Hank watched unsure what to make of the situation.

"No, unlike a lot of the androids I've seen so far this one is perfectly fine. Preliminary scans doesn't find any abnormalities and his memory seems to be intact. But it certainly is the strangest case I've seen today," Connor didn't say anything as she opened his chest to reveal his internal processor. "What I'm trying to figure out it's why did they take this experimental processor and put it in the body of a YK 500?"

"Well did you ask it?" Hank asked sarcastically causing Connor to speak up.

"I also do not know why they did this." Hank rolled his eyes at this, almost forgetting how everything went straight over android's heads before leaving the lab for his desk when the chief's loud familiar voice called out.

"Anderson!" He turned to see an exasperated Fowler, "We need to talk."

"Shit," the lieutenant cursed under his breath as he followed the man into his office. Mountains of paperwork littered Fowler's desk, half of it just regarding the prototype they were sent to find. The android chop shop operation was a lot bigger than any of them had expected and they still hadn't even started on processing all the evidence found at the scene. The chief sat down, rubbing his head as Hank did the same opposite him.

"God damn, this whole fiasco is a shit show. We just came for one android and not only is that android fucked up but it turns out there was even more stolen Cyberlife property and according to one of the gang members we're interrogating, this isn't their only shop."

"Jesus Christ, you sound like you could use a drink."

"I wish." Fowler reached into the pile of papers before pulling out a file and handing it to Hank. The man opened it to find it had sheets on both the YK 500 and the RK 800 with their general description and information. "But because of all the processing we don't have enough room down here at the station for all of them and as such have been giving a few of our finest some overtime." Hank stared at the file than at Fowler before it finally clicked as he realized what the man was going to say next.

"No fucking way-"

"It's just for a week Hank until Cyberlife knows what to do-"

"Why the fuck are you giving me this thing? You know I hate them and one that looks like a god damn kid? You've got to be shitting me."

"Hank, you're the only one I trust enough not to fuck this up. If I gave the thing to someone like Gavin I'd constantly have to worry about him damaging the thing."

"Like I wouldn't?"

"Hank, as your commanding officer I'm ordering you to do this."

"Cut the commanding officer bullshit. You can't fucking make me."

"I can and will." Hank glared at the other officer who was too tired to glare back. "Just pick it up after your shift is over and make sure nothing happened to it, capiche?" Hank didn't say anything as he left the office, slamming the door behind him.


	3. Called In

// _01110_ //

New Objective:

_Follow Lieutenant Anderson_

Connor sat in the passenger side seat of the old beat up car belonging to the man who was intrusted with his care. The android did not understand why they didn't simply shut him down at the station but wouldn't question then further. He couldn't recall anything from his memory bank about where they found him except waking up in this new body on a table in an unoccupied room. The last thing Connor could remember was being sent out to investigate a local deviancy case before his memory stopped recording. Now he sat quietly in the police lieutenant's car as the man stared straight ahead at the road.

Connor already knew that the man did not like him or androids in general. He'd heard the the man just outside the evidence room shouting at his captain about not wanting to take him home. The android was only given the task to stay with Hank before they left the station together in silence, neither knowing what to say. Examining the car he saw empty beer cans in the back. Looking closer he saw dog fur coating the seats, St. Bernard. There were a few tapes for a death metal band from the 80s (Motorhead's Ace of Spades and Overkill) under his radio. An old hula girl bobblehead clung to the car's dashboard in a state of disrepair with most of her skirt being gone and a lot of the paint (lead) faded away. Connor made a note to advise Hank on getting rid of the car decoration.

The silence was abruptly interrupted by Hank's phone ringing causing the man to pick it up.

"What is it now?"

"We've got a new homicide case you need to investigate. Carlos Ortiz had just been stabbed in his home by his android on 412 ninth street."

"Excuse me? I still have the plastic-"

"Bring it with you, it might be able to help us."

"Like hell it will!"

"Just get over here, now." 

"Shit..." The man tossed his phone next to Connor before turning his car around as fast as possible. 

"That was an illegal u-turn," Connor remarked as Hank snorted.

"Probably."

~~

The car stopped, parking on the side of the road with Hank getting out of the car before he leaned in to Connor.

"Stay here." The lieutenant slammed the door shut and walked towards the crime scene. Connor paused for a moment before remembering his objective. 

_Follow Lieutenant Anderson_

Unbuckling his seatbelt Connor got out of the car before going over to where Hank was talking to a detective in front of the police tape.

"H-hey!" The detective stopped Connor who looked up at him curiously. "Kid, you can't go in here. Where's your mom?"

"Don't worry Ben, he's with me."

"The kid?"

"Android, long story." 

"Oh. Well go ahead, I guess."

"Thank you detective Collins," Connor nodded curtly as he followed Hank into the house now with the door wide open.

"Ah Christ," Connor and Hank looked to see Carlos Ortiz's body on the ground in the living room, stabbed multiple time with blood littering the ground around him. As Connor approached the body all the other officers at the scene paused to stare at the small body that examined the corpse.

"What's he-"

"Android," Hank waved the other officer off when Connor noticed a small puddle of blue blood nearby. Sticking his fingers in it Connor brought it to to his mouth. Hank let out a disgusted noise. "What the fuck?"

"I have the ability to create a real time genetic profile by testing the thirium that was left behind by the attacker." Hank stared at him confused. "You'd probably know it better as blue blood."

"Whatever kid, just don't interfere with the crime scene." Connor nodded as Hank walked off to the kitchen leaving him to investigate on his own.


	4. Finding the Deviant

//_0011010_//

New Objective: 

_Help Lieutenant Anderson investigate crime scene_

Having been built for investigations like this the android was prepared to closely examine the scene. Connor looked over the living room, analyzing the area when he spotted a line of faded thirium around the body.

/Android attacker, injured in the struggle/

The blood led to different ways, Connor choosing to follow the closer path to the kitchen. Other officers milled about looking over the scene glancing at the android, clearly unnerved by his child like appearance. He didn't say anything to them instead noticing the overturned table and chairs. Nearby on the floor was a discarded bloody knife.

/Used to stab the victim/ 

Reconstructing the scene Connor found that this was where the struggle had begun in the kitchen. Mr. Ortiz had attacked the android before grabbing the knife and fighting back.

/Deviant behavior/

"What the hell are you looking at?" Hank asked noticing Connor who had been staring straight ahead as he recreated the crime scene. 

"Nothing Lieutenant." Connor said shaking his head as the officer bent down to examine the discarded knife.

"Call me Hank kid, easier to say."

"Lieutenant I am not a child despite my appearance." Hank frowned at Connor who made the correction but didn't say anything. The android ignored the older man as he scanned for the thirium trail again, it leading into the bathroom before stopping in the middle of the hallway. 

'Odd,' the android thought looking around, 'The trail seems to go cold.' Going into the bathroom Connor found RA9 written all over the walls.

/Blood, belonging to victim/

Approaching the shower Connor pulled back the curtain to reveal RA9 written even more times with an unidentifiable statue placed in the middle.

/Religious offering?/

There wasn't anything else of interest to investigate as the Android backed up to see the thirium trail that came to an abrupt stop was the only important clue left to investigate when he looked up to see a door.

/Attic?/

Examining the nearby area he saw two hooks on the wall with a distinct dust pattern around it indicating the ladder that had once been there. 

/Where's the ladder now?/

Connor thought back to the over turn over kitchen chair as he made his way back to the kitchen where he struggled to lift the chair with his small body.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Hank asked the android who began to walk away with the chair.

"Testing a hypothesis," Connor said as he positioned the chair underneath the latch. Because of his now short stature it took Connor a few tries at jumping before getting the door unlocked as he hauled his body through the opening.

Looking around the attic Connor didn't see much of anything at first except discarded boxes and the shadows they cast. Going further into the attic Connor heard what could only be qualified as footsteps leading him towards the back of the room.

"Hello?" Connor called out as he heard shuffling behind the boxes in the darkness. "My name is Connor, I'm an android from Cyberlife." There was another noise before Connor could see the light of a red LED as the deviant stepped out with a confused look on it's face.

"You're an android?"

Connor was about to answer when Hank's voice called from downstairs.

"Connor? What're you doing up there? You find anything?" Immediate panic crossed the taller android's face as he saw Connor open his mouth to yell something when the suspect grabbed the smaller Connor who's body was too weak to put up much of a struggle.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Connor who was still trying to process what was happening, "but I don't want to die."


	5. Hostage Situation

"Connor?" Hank called up again for the android who still doesn't answer the police lieutenant. "I'm coming up," Hank grunted as he used the chair leaning against the wall to enter the attic space. Hauling himself up Hank hit his elbow on the wall making him let out a pained noise. "Fuck!" He rubbed the tender spot before looking around. "Connor? You up here kid?" There wasn't a response at first into he heard a shuffling from behind the boxes prompting Hank to raise his firearm. 

"Don't shoot," an unfamiliar voice called out as the face belonging to the deviant android walked out of the darkness holding the smaller struggling android, "o-or I'll break his neck."

"Just put the android down and let's talk this out-"

"No!" The deviant snapped at Hank who kept his finger just above the trigger. "If I put him down you'll just shoot me!"

"That's not true," Hank tried to reason, "we're just going to take you to the station for questioning. We want to know why you stabbed your owner."

"He's not my owner." The deviant's eyes began to water. "He...he was going to kill me. I didn't want to die."

"And that's understandable," Hank got a little closer which went unnoticed to the android, "you just wanted to protect yourself. Anyone would."

"But I'm not anyone. I'm an android so you'll just destroy me when you get what you want."

"That's not true otherwise I would've shot through that android you're carrying."

In reality Hank didn't really care about Connor but he did know that Cyberlife would probably sue both him and the Detroit police station if something happened to their prototype. Despite this the deviant started to relax slightly when Hank said that.

"Now just put the kid down and come quietly."

"I...." His arms had lowered enough and Connor sagged in it's hold enough for Hank to take the shot, hitting the deviant flat in the head as Connor fell to the ground covered in blue blood from the gun shot splatter. The noise was loud enough to catch the attention of all the officers below them.

"Hank? What the fuck is going on up there?"

"We found the deviant, there was a confrontation and I had to shoot it." Hank yelled back before turning to Connor who was standing still, eyes slightly wide at what had just happened. "Kid, you okay? That was a pretty close call."

"I'm fine lieutenant, you had nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about? You could have died."

"I can't die. I'm not alive." Connor said as he wiped away some of the blue blood that splattered on his face away. "It's a shame you couldn't have apprehended the suspect, I apologize for being caught but I'm still not used to this new body."

"Don't worry about it. At least we get to go home now." Hank exited through the attic door and called over to some of the officers while Connor looked back at the now dead android. Why did he...feel something?


	6. Hooked on a Feeling

Connor had tuned out during most of the ride as he watched the neighborhood pass by before coming to a stop in front of a small unassuming house.

"We're here," Hank said as he got out of the car with Connor following close behind. He opened the door and the two were greeted by a loud barking followed by a rush of fur coming towards them. Instinctively Connor hid behind Hank who doesn't flinch as he leaned down and pet the furry creature. 

/Hank's St. Bernard/

"Hey there Sumo," the man pet the creature who growled when it noticed Connor behind Hank, " don't worry about him not, he's just spending the night." The dog sniffed Connor for a moment before making a noise and heading towards kitchen. The lieutenant was smiling until he noticed Connor staring at him prompting his usual look of disinterest to return. "So do you like sleep or something?"

"With this body I suppose so," Connor commented as Hank groaned.

"Fuck, ugh, I guess you can sleep on the couch or something."

"That will be alright." Connor approached the couch while Hank walked into the kitchen. He came out holding a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey

/40% alcohol content/

and a few snack cakes Connor couldn't identity.

"Well just so whatever the fuck you do and don't wake me up before noon," Hank turned to go to his room before glancing back at Connor, "and don't touch or lick anything. I've already got Sumo for that."

"Yes lieutenant." Connor nodded before the officer disappeared into his room leaving the android alone on the couch. He glanced around the room curiously when Sumo walked over to him and jumped on the couch next to the android. Connor smiled as he stroked the dog's fur causing the St. Bernard to lean on his tiny body, obscuring most of his view. Connor struggled to push the dog off enough so that he could actually stand up allowing him a better view of the house. Looking down the hallway he saw an open door leading to the bathroom. 

Entering the small room Connor noticed a mirror just above the sink and for the first time got a look at the body he was now stuck in. The YK500 model looked about nine years old with brown hair and eyes. He bared somewhat of a resemblance to his old body which the android found odd still not knowing the purpose of moving his processor into this body. The LED had been taken off allowing more people to confuse him for an actual child which had proved the be a hindrance so far. Perhaps he could ask a new one at the police station, there were certainly enough parts left from the building where they had recovered him.

Remembering what happened at the crime scene Connor began to wonder if maybe he feels something because this body's programming. YK500s were built to experience emotion like an actual child would so it would make sense that it caused him to feel emotions at the crime scene. Opening his body's circuit board Connor went to turn off emotions and feelings but was surprised to find they were already off.


	7. Hungover

Hank yawned as he woke up, vision a hazy blur from both sleep and the alcohol he drank the previous night. His brain slowly caught up with his eyes when he became aware that his shoulder was being shook. Glancing over he saw a kid's face as he groaned loudly.

"Ugh...fuck Cole go back to sleep. Daddy needs a few more minutes," he rolled over and dug himself further into his bed. The feeling disappeared and Hank slowly coded his eyes again when a sudden feeling of cold water being thrown over him made him sit straight up. "FUCK!" Hank's vision came into focus faster as he saw the small body standing in front of him.

"Lieutenant, it's 12:01. You need to get up." Hank eyed the moving child when he remembered the android from the previous day. "I've already set out your clothes and made breakfast for you."

"What the fuck kid? You threw water on me?" The lieutenant stood up as Connor handed him the towel he had ready.

"You told me not to wake you up before noon. I tried and you just rolled over. Now get ready, your captain already called this morning and has a case for you to investigate." Hank grunted as he grabbed the clothes. Connor stared at him creeping the older man out.

"You don't have to watch me kid. Get out." Connor nodded, leaving the room while he closed the door behind him. 

~~

Connor withdrew from the lieutenant's room and headed towards the kitchen where he saw Sumo trying to chew through the dog food bag he'd left out. Glancing over at the bowl he saw the dog had already eaten through the food Connor had put out for him earlier that morning. He struggled to lift the bag away from the dog who whined at Connor's feet, begging for more. The small android couldn't resist the dogs puppy eyes as he refilled Sumo's bowl before hiding the bag back in the cupboard. Going over to the the table Connor took a seat when Hank came in wearing the clothes Connor gave him with a loud groaning as he sat down where Connor has laid out the breakfast. Strawberry poptarts and a glass of milk was the least unhealthy food in the kitchen much to the android's dissatisfaction.

"Jesus, kid whatcha do with my whiskey? I could've used a helluva lot more to deal with this hangover."

"You drank it all last night Lieutenant. I recycled the empty bottles. And I don't believe more drinking would cure hangover. It would probably make things worse."

"Christ....hey make a note to pick up some whiskey tonight." Connor did while Hank bit into his breakfast when the android looked for something to say. 

"When I woke you up you called me Cole, was he your son?" Hank paused from eating to stare at Connor. "Did the room next to yours belong to him? How old is he? Do you-"

"Shut the fuck up." The lieutenant cut off the android abruptly. 

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"Don't talk about my son again or I will kick you out on your plastic ass." 

/Hank's son, sensitive topic/

Connor didn't say anything until the man got up stumbling towards the car with him following close behind.

"Detective, you shouldn't be driving with your blood alcohol content."

"Fuck off, my car, my rules."


	8. The Office

//_1010100_//

New Objective:

_Stay Put_

Hank told Connor to stay at the empty desk next to his when they arrived at the strain and not move. Connor found this surprisingly hard as his small body fidgeted in the chair. Eyes stared at the child looking android, curious as he tried to adjust the chair height. Connor's height difference barely put him at the desk height with the chair at it's tallest.

 

'This is...inconvenient...' Connor thought as he turned the chair around. He looked over at Lieutenant Anderson's desk to see the man was now gone. Judging from the faces he made earlier combined with his blood alcohol content, probably in the bathroom throwing up. 

 

New Objective:

 

_Check on Hank_

 

Getting up Connor made his way to the bathroom before realizing he had no idea where it was. Looking around he noticed a younger officer leaning on his desk nearby and went over to him. Tugging on the man's shirt he looked around before seeing Connor. 

 

"Excuse me..." Looking over at the man's desk he saw Gavin Reed on the name plate, "...officer Reed, but would you be able to help me?"

 

"What the...oh wait you're Hank's weird android right?"

 

"Yes and I was wondering if you could assist me with-"

 

"Yeah, yeah, I'll help you in a minute but could you do me favor first?" Hank stared at the man for a moment before nodding. "Great, could you get me some coffee? Black, two sugars," he pointed over at the machine and Connor moved to complete the officer's orders. 

 

New Objective:

 

_Get Officer Reed coffee_

 

Trying to reach for the coffee pot and cup Connor struggled to reach the top of the counter. Frustrated he saw grabbed a nearby chair to reach the top of the counter and grab the coffee pot. His small arms made it hard to lift the pot and pour it into the cup without spilling it. Climbing down from the chair Connor went over to give the officer his coffee when he heard a voice call for him.

 

"Connor? Where the fuck are you?" He turned to see Hank looking around for the Android before seeing the small body. "Get over here." Connor walked over the man who glanced at Connor annoyed. ''What did I tell you about staying put?"

 

"I was..." Concerned for the detective? "Going to check on you when officer Reed asked me to grab him some coffee," Connor lifted the cup to show off the coffee as Hank took it.

 

"Tch, don't do anything for that asshole. You're not his fucking dog." He tossed the cup into the nearby trash bin before grabbing Connor's wrist and dragging him over to the empty desk again. "Now stay." The man returned to his desk as Connor took his seat leaving the Android with nothing to do again. Glancing around Connor began to focus on Hank's desk examining the items as the man filled out paperwork. The chair was covered in dozens of tiny hairs.

 

/Belonging to St. Bernard, probably Sumo's/

 

"So how long have you had Sumo?" Connor asked curiously as Hank raised an eyebrow.

 

"Why do you care?"

 

"I was just wondering, he is a very nice dog."

 

"Huh. A while I guess, at least nine years."

 

"In dog years he'd be about sixty seven then." 

 

"I guess, Sumo's getting up there but I don't think he's giving up anytime soon." Hank smiled slightly as he said that before the almost permanent frown returned. Looking around the desk Connor also noticed a basketball hat on his desk.

 

/Detroit Gears/

 

"So you like basketball right? The Detroit Gears?"

 

"How the fuck did you know that?"

 

"It was...on the TV last night." The man probably would not have been amused by Connor scoping out his desk. "Denton Carter scored 53% of his shots from the three point line yesterday. Did you see the game?" 

"I would've if I didn't have to babysit you last night." Hank's annoyed time made Connor back down slightly.

"Oh..." Connor glanced over at Hank's computer screen to see what he was working on. "I see you're working on a series of deviancy cases like the one we encountered last night. If you want, I might be able to help with the investigations if you shared the files with me." 

 

"Kid, what makes you think you can help?"

 

"Lieutenant need I remind you that despite my childlike appearance I still have an advanced processor built to deal with situations like this."

 

"Don't worry about kid. We've got this covered." Connor slumped in the chair again at the dismissal when another officer came over to Hank's desk.

 

"Excuse me Lieutenant? I'm...sorry to disturb you but I have some information on the AX400 attack last night? It was spotted in the Ravendale district last night."

 

"On it, give me a few minutes." The man nodded, walking away as Hank stood up. "Come on kid, we've got a suspect to find. And try not to get in trouble this time."


	9. Hank

//_0101110_//

New Objective:

Find deviant

A motel owner in the Ravendale district had called to report the deviant who had checked into his motel the night before. It seemed easy when Hank explained it but Connor already knew how things tended not to go according to plan with the lieutenant.

'Try not to get in trouble this time.'

The Android promised to be more careful this time as they got out of the car and slowly made their way to motel room. Pausing in front of the door the deviant was using Hank brought a finger up to his lips before pulling out his gun and opening the door. Going in with the firearm levelled the two looked around the room to find out was completely empty.

/The deviant fled the scene/

Connor noted as he checked the bathroom. 

"It's gone." Hank says frustrated as Connor proceeded to check under the beds only to be greeted by nothing. "Shit."

"Lieutenant, are you sure? Perhaps they're somewhere close by or-"

"Kid, it probably knew we were coming a mile away and decided to get the hell out of Dodge."

"Lieutenant, we're in Detroit."

"I-it's not what I...you know what nevermind," Hank put his gun back in it's holster, looking over the room to find nothing yet again before putting a hand on Connor's shoulder. "Whatever, I'm starving. Let's go grab some food."

"Lieutenant, I cannot eat."

"What? You only drink blood or something?" Hank asked jokingly.

"No, I merely analyzed the sample to determine it's origin."

"Can you do that with other stuff?" Hank asked as they re-entered the car.

"I suppose so, but I don't see the need to use my processor for anything else." Hank made a face as Connor said this before pulling to the side of the road in front of a small convenience store. "Why are we stopping here?" 

"Need to grab something for work." Following the officer into the store buying two went over to the counter where the man behind didn't look up from his magazine. Grabbing a few suckers out of the jar by the gum before pushing them over to the cashier.

/Brand: Blow Pop, Expired: 01/01/24, possible health code violation?/

Handing money over to the the cashier, Hank turned to the small android before unwrapping it and handing the treat to Connor. The Android looked up at the older man comfused.

"What-?"

"Put it in your mouth."

"What? Why?"

"If you're going to put something in your mouth I'd prefer knowing it's not a bodily fluid." The man behind the counter looked over at the man concerned with a raised eyebrow. "He's an android."

"That's still pretty sick man."

"That's not what I me-you know what forget it. Connor just put the damn sucker in your mouth." Connor nodded as the man ushered him out the store. Analyzing the sucker as he put it in his mouth Connor's brain began to run an analysis.

/Flavor: Grape, Sugar Content: 13 g/

His processor decided this would've have been a pleasant taste. Smiling as he got back in the car he turned to Hank.

"Thank you...Hank." The detective turned to Connor surprised at being addressed by his first name.

"Whatever kid, it's nothing."


	10. Is This Bonding?

"Here we are," Hank said as he the car pulled to a stop in front of a food truck. The man got out followed by Connor who was now chewing the bubblegum from the blowpop he was given earlier. Walking across the street a car barely stopped before almost hitting Connor who didn't see it coming.

"Hey, watch it! We're walking here,'' Hank yelled at the car before taking the small android's hand for the rest of the walk. Connor looked up at the food proprietary's sign to see the name.

/Chicken Feed/

"Hey, Hank, my man!" The officer let go of Connor's hand as they turned to see a man approaching.

"Pedro, long time no see," the two did a hand shake as Connor stared at them curiously, "hope you got a better tip this time. Last month you see me back a whole week's pay.''  
"Nah my man, I got source telling me to place it all on Seabiscuit. Supposed to be one hell of a racer."  
"Yeah well this time, put your money where your mouth is." 

/Aabdar, Pedro  
Criminal Record: Illegal gambling/

'Hank has a gambling problem?' Connor wondered as the two laughed before the man noticed the Android.

"Who's this?"

"His name's Connor. I'm stuck babysitting him for a week."

"Man, I do not envy you."

"Yeah, yeah, see you at the race Pedro." 

"Later man," Pedro said before turning around and leaving.  
"Who was that?" Connor asked, already knowing the answer but curious about his relationship to Hank.

"He's no one kid."

They back to the food truck Hank pulled out his wallet when the man at the window came to greet them.

/Name: Kayes, Gary

Criminal Record: Resisting Arrest, DUI, Public Intoxication/

"The usual?" He asked as Hank nodded.

"You know me too well."

"Well enough to already have it ready for you by three," the man said pulling out a box to go.

/Hamburger:  
1680 calories, lipids (36 g), carbohydrates (53 g), water (53%), salt (2.2 g)/

Connor didn't have to be an android to know that wasn't healthiest in the slightest. Hank happily took the food before walking over to the table with Connor close behind.

"I swear," Hank said taking the burger out,"with you around it's like having a lost puppy follow me everywhere."

"Well I am supposed to stay with you, right?" Hank rolled his eyes, biting into the burger. 

"That man you were talking to, Pedro, he was proposing an illegal gambling deal."

"So?"

"So, you're an officer of the law. You shouldn't be participating in illegal activity like that."

"Kid, I'm a grown ass adult who can do whatever he wants."

"Not if it's illegal." The Lieutenant rolled his eyes.

"It's perfectly legal until you get caught." Connor could barely comprehend how casual Hank was being about his gambling. 

"You do know your meal contains one point four times the recommended daily intake of calories and twice the cholesterol level, don't you? You shouldn't eat that."

"Everybody's got to die of something and I'd prefer it be burger in hand than a bullet in the chest."

Fair point. 

"Is...there anything you want to know about me?"

"No. Well actually, yeah, one thing. Why are you so important to Cyberlife? I mean usually they'd just have us deactivate and return robots like you."

"Androids. And I'm a state of the art prototype. Or at least, I was. There's nothing else like me."

"Huh. Sounds pretty neat." 

"Yes, it is." Hank too a drink of his pop. "Can you at least, tell me about these deviant cases you're working on? They sound interesting."

"Just a couple of androids thinking they've got emotions. You don't need to worry about it."

"Aren't you worried about it? From what I saw at the station it's becoming more common-"

"Kid, we've got it under control. There's nothing to worry about."

"Oh." Connor trailed off looking at the ground. Hank was about to say something when his phone rang. He answered it before putting his food in a bag then grabbing Connor's wrist. "What's going on?"

"New deviant case, few blocks away. I need to go check it out."

"Maybe I could-"

"Stay in the car. You don't need to get hurt." Connor wanted to protest but didn't as they retreated into Hank's car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know: your guys comments give me life 
> 
> \- :}


	11. On Edge

"Jesus Christ, this place is a real shit hole." Hank commented as he and the small android walked down the run down apartment building's hallway before stopping in front of the apartment that was reported. 

"Do we know anything about the suspect?" Connor asked as Hank knocked on the door.

"Neighbors say they heard a weird noise. Nobody's stopped to live here but they say they saw a guy break in hiding an LED under a hat." Connor nodded when Hank called out to the suspect.

"Detroit PD, we want to talk." No response. A few seconds later he knocked again. "Anybody home?" This time the two heard noises like someone fumbling around making Hank back up, shoving the android back. "Stay behind me."

"Got it." Connor watched as Hank took out his gun before kicking the door down. The two slowly walked into the apartment trying to locate the source of the noise. Glancing around they didn't see anything in the small walkway before Hank locked open the next door. They were greeted by multiple pigeons flying out at once, causing Hank to panic slightly as he backed away.

"What the fuck is this?!" The lieutenant said brushing past the birds into the main apartment that appeared to be full of pigeons.

"I believe they're pigeons Lieutenant," Connor said as one landed on his shoulder.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Hank walked further in disturbing the birds who flew around the room, "Jesus this place stinks." Connor couldn't smell but judging from the amount of bird feces covering the room he wouldn't be surprised. "Uh, looks like we came for nothing. Our man's gone..." Connor looked around the room before noticing something on the floor.

//_Military Jacket_

-Second Hand : Initials RT

90% Cotton, 10% Synthetic Fibers//

"R. T. , probably initials."

"He put his initials on his jacket? That's something your mom does for you in first grade." A nearby wall was covered in RA9, much like the previous crime scene they investigated. "RA9, any idea what it means?"

"RA9. Written 2,471 times. It's the same sign Ortiz's android wrote on the shower walls. What's so important about this sign?" Connor got closer to the wall to examine it but was pulled back by Hank.

"Hey, don't go licking any walls or whatever."

"I wasn't-"

"Here," he handed Connor another sucker, "just, don't." Hank left to investigate the other room leaving Connor to look over the bathroom. Noticing the turned over stool Connor let his processors examine the scene before recreating it.

//_Suspect was here recently_//

//_Suspect ran to the living room_//

Following the recreated path Connor came to a turned over cage.

//_Suspect ran towards entrance, knocking over the cafe in the process_//

//_Suspect heard us and fell over_//

//Suspect used chair to climb into rafters..//

"Hank, he's still here!" Connor said approaching the chair when a man fell down knocking the android to the ground. Hank tried to approach but the birds blocked his love of vision.

"God damn fucking pigeons!" Not wanting the suspect to get away Connor sat up before chasing after the man. "Connor what the fuck are you doing?!" Connor didn't listen as his small body rushed to catch up with the man. It was difficult given how stature but Connor managed to get close enough to the man, almost grabbing his jacket when he jumped over to the next building. Connor had not been paying attention and nearly fell in the process, barely catching himself on the side of the ledge. He struggled to hold on as Hank came out just moments later about to chase after the man before seeing Connor. Despite the high probability of survival Connor felt his fear spike. He didn't want to fall. 

"Hank!" Connor screamed as the lieutenant glanced between him and the suspect before rushing over to Connor. Hefting the android up Connor felt his artificial chest pound when he was lifted, tightly clinging to Hank's body as artificial tears stung the edge of his eyes. 

'Why am I so scared? I'm not alive....but why am I scared?'

Connor's mind raced as he refused to move from Hank's leg. "I'm sorry Hank...I-I didn't-"

"Shh, it's okay kid. Christ, don't run off like that again. You're gonna give me a heart attack." Connor nodded, not noticing the pained look that crossed the lieutenant's face.


	12. Deja Vu

"...daddy....daddy..." Hank was tired as he felt something tugging on shirt. Looking over he saw his son staring at him annoyed. "Daddy get up! I'm gonna be late for school!"

"Ugh Cole I wish I could but I think gravity's going to win the fight today." Hank rolled over before his son climbed on his bed and tried moving him. The father responded by rolling over into his son.

"Hey! Get your fat butt off me!"

"I don't know, if I'm so fat I don't think I can move."

"Daddy!!" 

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up!" Cole gasped for air while Hank laughed getting up and grabbing his jacket and slipping on a pair of jeans. Cole excitedly jumped up and down, holding his father's hand and dragging him out the house past their puppy who was fast asleep on the couch.

"You're the only kid I've ever met who's excited for school."

"We're going on a field trip today!" Cole said excitedly as Hank buckled him in before starting the car. 

"Where you going?"

"The Museum of Progress! Mrs. Dechart said we're gonna be learning about stuff like androids!"

"Tch, you and your fancy toys," Hank laughed before turning his eyes back to the road, passing through an intersection as the light turned green allowing them to go.

"Androids aren't toys they-" Cole was cut off as a car flew into his side of the car sending the vehicle tumbling and knocking Hank unconscious. The last thing the lieutenant saw before his vision faded out was his son's face, covered in blood and broken glass.

~~

The ride home was tense while Hank glanced between the road and Connor continuously. Connor was in shock from the incident on the roof, still tightly holding the unopened blowpop Hank had given him earlier as some sort of comfort. Seeing his trembling body made it hard to distinguish the difference between this android and an actual child. It reminded him of his own son so much it almost physically hurt to watch Connor. Hank didn't like androids but he hated YK500s especially, they perfectly imitated actual children to an unnerving degree. And seeing Connor like...this scared him. He looked just a little older than Cole was before the accident. Hank hated seeing Connor distressed like an actual child.

He knew yelling at Connor wouldn't help when they passed a family store, prompting the car to come to a half in a nearby parking spot. The android looked over at him confused as they got out of the car and entered the store.

 

"Rocky's Ice Cream Road?"

"Figured it might be able to calm you down a little."

"Lieutenant, I still can't really taste food."

"But it will make you feel better. Just pick whichever one you think you would like." Connor nodded, the duo approaching the counter as the older woman at the register looked up at the detective surprised.

"Hank? It's been a while since I've seen you," she noticed Connor and her eyes widened, "is he-?"

"Babysitting. I'll have a scoop mint chocolate chip," he quickly cut off the woman who nodded before turning to the smaller Connor.

"And what about you bud?" Connor had been looking over the flavors through the glass unsure before pausing.

"Tutti Frutti?" Hank gave the woman money in exchange for the ice cream. Connor followed Hank to a table next to a window that looked out on the street. Siting down Hank began to dig into the ice cream as Connor stared as his cup confused. 

"What are you waiting for kid? It's ice cream, not a gun."

"Why are you doing this?" Hank raised an eyebrow.

"Doing what?"

"Buying me things? Calling me kid? You know I'm not-"

"I know but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get to have fun. Now eat the damn ice cream. Or analyze it. Whatever it is you do." Connor paused before licking the ice cream. He smiled slightly and Hank laughed as he watched Connor stick the whole thing in his mouth, the ice cream disappearing in seconds. The android smiled, ice cream covering his whole face as Hank got an uncomfortable feeling of Deja Vu.


	13. New Arrangements

Connor and Hank entered the Anderson household where they greeted by a bounding Sumo. The dog jumped on the android, excitedly licking Connor's face as the android tried to get up.

"Sumo, down boy!" The dog paused before pulling off Connor. "Guess he missed you." Hank grunted, making his way to the kitchen. Going through the cupboards he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a box of cereal. "Well I'm turning in. Night kid. And this time don't throw water on my face. That's considered rude by most people."

Connor nodded, watching the man disappear into his room leaving him alone again. Sumo was drooling on Connor's foot when he been over and scratched the St. Bernard's head. Looking though the living room Connor paused when he saw a photo framed above the TV. It was a picture of Hank with a young boy in front of an amusement park.

//_Anderson, Cole

Born: September 23, 2029

Died: October 11, 2035_//

'Hank had a son who died.' Connor glanced back at the lieutenant's room slightly worried. Glancing at the photo and realized Cole would be nine years old now. The same age his new body was meant to look like. Backing away from the photo Connor sunk into the couch where Sumo happily planted himself next to the android. The android didn't know if it could sleep knowing how it must have been affecting the detective. It was a few hours later before he finally feeling his body begin to drift into sleep.

~~

"Daddy, why don't I have a mom?" Hank looked over to his son who paused from his coloring book.

"Ugh, er, why do you ask?"

"I'm class everyone was making mother's day cards for tomorrow but...I don't have anyone to give my card to."

"So you can't just give me the card?"

"No silly! You're my daddy! Not my mom," Cole laughed as Hank made a face, "do I have a mom?"

"Well...everyone has a mom. But sometimes the mom and dad don't like each other so they live in different houses."

"Oh. Can I go to mom's house and give her the card?" Hank watched as the five year old grabbed his bag and brought out a bright pink paper covered in glue and glitter, "I want to see her face when she gets it!" Hank leaned over and grabbed the card.

"We'll see what we can do."  
~~  
"-Lieutenant.... lieutenant...Hank...." The man woke up from his dream to see a small body on top of him shaking his shoulder. The small arm held out a cellphone that was now pressed in his face. "Officer Fowler is on the phone, he would like to talk with you."

"...wha da fuck...? What time is it?"

"Three a.m. sir." Connor answerd while Hank sat up, taking the phone.

"Jesus Christ," the man rubbed his face, "What the fuck is it now?"

"There's been a murder at The Eden Club, we believe it involves two deviant androids."

"God, it can't wait till the fucking morning?"

"Unfortunately not, now get your ass down there, now."

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do with the kid?"

"Take it with you."

"I can't take him into a God damn sex club, he already gets in enough trouble as it is."

"Leave him at home then. Just get over there." 

"I can't leave him alone he'll just follow me or do something even more stupid."

"Leave him at the station."

"But he-"

"Do it. Now." The other man hung up making Hank groan loudly before rolling out of bed.

"Fuck...it's too early in the morning for this shit."


	14. Eden Club pt.1

"Kid, this place is filthy so don't touch anything. Don't look at anything, don't lick anything, don't talk to anyone," Hank said as he and the small android entered The Eden Club together, "and don't let anyone touch you."

 

"Lieutenant, you don't have to worry about me-"

 

"Yes I do. Don't go anywhere I can't see you." Connor followed the lieutenant into the building, the mean tightly holding Connor's hand as they walked down the hallway where different models lined the way in. The androids pressed themselves against the glass containers they were in to entice the people who came through. Hank let out a disgusted noise, tugging Connor along as he stared at the figures curiously. 

 

"Sexiest robots in town my ass, who wants to fuck an android?"

 

"Well lieutenant, these androids were built specifically to be-"

 

"Don't answer that kid." Connor went quiet as they entered the main room and saw the owner talking to Detective Collins.

 

"You're not going to take my license or anything right? I mean, it wasn't my fault. I had nothing to do with this!" The man nervously said as the detective rolled his eyes.

"The investigation's ongoing, I can't tell you anything at the moment." He turned to see the lieutenant and walked over.

"Hey Ben, how's it going?"

"It's that room there," he pointed to the room that now had had holographic police lines covering it. "Oh, uh, by the way Gavin's in there too."

"Great just what I needed, a dead body and an asshole." Hank let go of Connor's hand as they entered the room where the detective turned to them annoyed.

"Lieutenant Anderson and his plastic pet. What the fuck are you doing here?"

"He's been assigned to ask cases involving androids," Connor answered.

"Oh yeah? Well you're wasting your time." The officer turned to the dead man's body in the bed before looking over at the now deactivated TRACI android on the ground. "Just some pervert who, uh, got a little more action than he could handle." Gavin laughed to which Hank responded by elbowing his way past him.

"Well if you don't mind, we're gonna have a look anyway." Gavin made a face before turning to the other detective who was taking notes.

"C'mon let's go. It's starting to stink of booze in here," the man smirked at Hank when he said this before "accidentally" elbowing Connor in the process. "Some of us have more important cases to work on."

"Can't be too important if they let you work on it.'' Hank remarked as the other officer nodded to the two.

"Night lieutenant." He walked out leaving the duo alone as Connor bent down to investigate the android. Putting his fingers next to her lips Connor pulled the now thirium covered fingers away, inserting them in his mouth.

"Whoa! Hey, hey, hey!" He slapped Connor's hand away before using his jacket to wipe off the blue blood. "Argh, Connor, you're so disgusting. You have no idea where that thing's been." 

"I'm merely analyzing the sample lieutenant."

"You already know it's blue blood, you already know it's hers. Now stop doing it." Connor ignored the detective as he continued to examine the TRACI.

//_Selector #5402: Critically damaged  
Biocomponent #6970: Critically damaged_//

Backing away from the android Connor walked over to the man's dead body as Hank began to go through his wallet.

"Victim's name was Michael Graham. Not seeing anything in here except for his card and a picture of his wife and kids." Recreating the scene Connor found that the man had not suffered from cardiac arrest.

"He didn't have a heart attack. He was strangled to death."

"Yeah, saw the bruising earlier. Doesn't prove anything though. Could've just been a little rough play."

"Rough play?"

"You'll get it when you're older."

"Lieutenant, need I remind I am an android?"

"Yeah, and? You're like what, a year old or something?"

"A year, seventeen days, five hours, sixteen seconds and counting."

"Whatever." He bent over the TRACI before glancing at Connor. "Hey maybe you could connect with it's memory or something to find out what happened."

"The only way to do that would be to reactivate it."

"Well can you?"

"Possibly but it would only be for a minute or two with how badly damaged it is."

"It's the only idea I got." Connor placed his hand on the TRACI's stomach, opening the circuitry board where he saw the two disconnected pieces. He attached them only for the android to jump up in shock before crawling away in fear.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, we just need to ask you a few questions," Hank said bending down to her level. "Can you talk?

"Is he...is he dead?" She asked looking over at the man.

"What happened?" Hank asked as she stuttered.

"H-he started to hit me. Again and again..."

"Did you kill him?"

"No it wasn't me-"

"What else do you remember? We don't have a lot of time."

"I-I-I-I don't know, what do you mean you don't have much time? I'd there something wrong with me? What-"

"Were you alone?"

"N-no...he wanted to play with two girls."

"Two? Who was the other one? Do you remember her?" The TRACI shut down before she could answer making Hank curse. "Fuck. What do we do now?"

"Maybe the other one was seen by was seen by another android when it came out. They might have surveillance footage on them."

"There's a dozen androids out there, what the fuck are we gonna do? Look through them all?" Hank asked, following Connor who shook his head.

"I should be able to trace her path based on the nearby footage."

"Whatever kid, just don't go licking anything weird again." Connor responded by pulling out the blow pop from earlier out of his jacket and sticking it in his mouth.


	15. Eden Club pt.2

Exiting the room with the body Connor looked around the club area before heading over to the TRACI android right across from the room. Hank trailed behind him, watching as Connor tried to bring his hand up to open android's tube. Hank snorted as the watched the android struggle.

"Need some help there?"

"Preferably." Hank put his hand on the pad to open the tube.

"Hello, a 30 minute session costs $29.99. Please confirm your purchase."

"I have to buy her?"

"It's for the investigation lieutenant."

"Christ." Hank hit the confirm button and the android stepped out smiling at Hank before Connor grabbed her wrist. Analyzing her memory Connor found a blue haired TRACI leaving the room and having towards the nearby red room. He was about to pull out when he noticed the time clock at the corner. It was counting down from five minutes. 

 

'...why would it-Shit!'

 

"Fuck! They're on a time limit! Their memories are wiped every five hours, we only have five minutes!"

 

"Hey, watch your fucking language-"

 

"We don't have time to argue lieutenant!" Connor said going to next tube where he had Hank place his hand on the pad so he could analyze it's memory too. Scanning the memory he traced the path further, dragging Hank along.

"Hey, kid, slow down!!"

"We don't have the time!" They went from android to android with Connor scanning every machine along the way. Hank winced as he realized the dent this was going to make in his wallet.

"You know I've spent a lot of money yet I'm not having any fun yet." Connor ignored the lieutenant's complaint as they came to a dead end. Connor scanned every android in the room yet he still hadn't find her on any of their memories. What was left? That's when he noticed the janitor android nearby who occasionally looked up to mop the floor. Grabbing it's wrist Connor scanned it's memory too see the TRACI going through the nearby employee only door.

"There!" Connor went to the door with Hank right behind him. Walking down the corridor he tried opening the door at the end but it was locked. Hank pushed Connor behind him, kicking the door in. The duo entered the storage room where they were greeted by the sight of multiple decommissioned TRACIs lining the room. Male and female models stared at nothing, now turned off making the older lieutenant uncomfortable as they passed by.

"Jesus Christ this is creepy."

"Don't worry lieutenant, they should all be off. But the TRACI might be here somewhere. We need to search the place." Connor said walking towards the back of the storage area but Hank caught him by the back of his shirt, lifting the small android up.

"No, I need to search the place. You need to stay out of trouble."

"But-" Hank already set him on a crate, handing him the nearby tech addict magazine to Connor.

"Stay." Hank turned away from Connor leaving the android almost annoyed at Hank's belief that he was helpless. The old detective looked around while Connor glanced through the articles in the magazine. He paused at the second article he clicked on.

'Origami Killer copycat in Detroit? Detective Reed reveals gruesome details about the latest victim.'

'Origami Killer...'

/_ Subject:  
-the origami killer  
Name: Scott Shelby  
Cause of death: Gun shot to the head  
Targets: Young boys between age 9-13_/

'Was this the case Detective Reed was talking about earlier?' Connor wondered setting the magazine aside before glancing back up at Hank. His back was turned as he looked at something on the ground. Slinking down Connor joined Hank on his search, looking through the deactivated androids when he spotted something odd. A brown haired TRACI with her LED on. 

"Hank! I-," the lieutenant turned to see Connor just as he was knocked down by the TRACI darting past him. It took the android a moment to recovery before latching himself onto her leg slowing her down. The blue haired TRACI from the security footage came out from behind Hank, trying to help the brown haired android. 

 

"Hey get the fuck away from him!" Hank pulled the blue haired android away from Connor and the other TRACI. They fell to the ground when Connor was knocked away, the brown haired TRACI going to help the blue haired android fight off Hank. Connor could only watch as the three struggled, Hank managing to get up when Connor saw the blue haired TRACI grab a screwdriver and lunge for Hank. 

 

Things seemed to slow down when he saw this before making a split second decision, riding to push Hank out of the way and in the process getting the screwdriver imbedded in his shoulder. Connor screamed in surprise and pain, falling to the ground with blue blood leaking out of his shoulder. Hank immediately rushed over to him while the TRACIs stared at him for a moment before running out of the storage room. Hank didn't seem to notice or care as he panicked over Connor who was lying on the floor confused and in pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Foreshadowing~


	16. Worry

"Jesus fuck, I thought I told you to stay put," Hank and Connor were now in the car driving away from the sex club. Connor now had Hank's jacket wrapped around his shoulder despite the lack of any further bleeding. His synthetic skin had already grown back stopping the flow of blue blood but Hank insisted on keeping the jacket pressed against where the screwdriver had been imbedded.

"I...did..." Connor was still perturbed by the feeling of pain from earlier. They were gone now but the android couldn't stop thinking about how much that hurt.

"Yeah well you didn't do a fucking great job."

"I just wanted to help you."

"..." Hank didn't say anything to this, instead focusing on the road as rain poured down. The car pulled to a stop in front of the lieutenant's house, the two silently getting out. Unlocking the door Hank entered the house where Sumo greeted them by running up to Connor and happily tackling him to the ground again, licking his face. "Sumo! Down!" The dog backed away allowing Connor to get up to see Hank grabbing something from the kitchen.

"Lieutenant-"

"Kid, just shut up. I'm tired and don't need anything else stressing me out, okay?" Connor went silent before nodding. Hank made his way over to his bedroom, almost closing the door when he called out. "Hey Connor?"

"Yes lieutenant?"

"Thanks." With that the door slammed shut. Connor stared for a moment before turning to the other door Hank had told him not to go into. Well...Hank probably wasn't going to hear him anyway... 

Carefully manuvering the door handle open Connor crept into the room where he was greeted by the musty scent of dust and age. Looking around Connor realized from the small bed and toys that littered the room that this used to belong to a child.

'Hank's son.' Connor realized looking over the almost untouched room. Transformers robots and legos were everywhere, never cleaned up after years of unuse. There was a cork board with pictures of Cole and crayon drawings that seemed unintelligible. Walking over Connor accidentally bumped into a nearby basketball.

/_signed by Detroit Gears player Trayvon Gibson_/

'He liked basketball.' Scanning the pictures Connor found himself staring at one of Cole's school photos. He had a lighter brown hair and blue eyes that the android found himself imitating. Maybe this would be more aesthetically pleasing to the lieutenant. Backing out of the room he quietly closed the door behind him and made his way over to Sumo. The dog whined prompting him to bend down and pet the animal.

"Good boy."


	17. Fucked Up

Hank groaned as the alarm on his phone rang. Everything hurt as his head vibrated from the pain. It was like someone was banging on his head with a hammer as hard as they possibly could. There were two things Hank hated more than anything, pigeons and hangovers. His vision was blurry when he finally realized what woke him up. His phone was on the ground nearby loudly ringing making the lieutenant wince as he reached for the device. 

"Hello?" Hank asked, his question coming out slightly slurred.

"Anderson,get your ass up. We need you to get over to the Stratford Tower now and find out what how that newscast happened," Captain Fowler's loud, angry voice practically yelled at Hank.

"Newscast? Stratford Tower? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You're kidding me. You haven't seen it yet?"

"Seen...what? What time is it?"

"It's four in the fucking afternoon Hank."

"Oh fuck, ugh, yeah. I'll get there as soon as I can." Hank stumbled out of the bed when Fowler hung up. "Jesus, where's my alcohol?" His feet came in contact with empty Jack Daniels bottles giving him an answer. "Christ..." Getting up he walked through the door to the bathroom bathroom where he was intent on grabbing some ibuprofen when he paused. Looking down into the living room he saw a familiar head of hair watching something on the TV.

"...Cole?"

~~

Connor turned from the news program he had been watching when he heard the lieutenant call his son's name out. 

"Good morning lieutenant-" Connor was surprised when the man stumbled over to him, lifting him in a hug. He was surprised to hear the detective crying as he was held close.

"Jesus Christ...Cole..." Connor struggled in the man's grip, carefully sliding out of the man's grip as Hank stared at him confused. "Cole? What're ya doin'?"

"Lieutenant, it's me Connor."

"Connor? Wha the fuck?" He sounded confused at first before it turned into anger. "What the fuck are you doing looking like my son?"

"I thought you would find it pleasing-"

"It's not fucking pleasing," he snapped at Connor, stumbling towards him angrily grabbing him by the shirt,"change the fuck back before I kick your plastic ass."

"Hank, I-"

"CHANGE THE FUCK BACK, NOW!" Hank shook the small android who felt the terror in his chest grow, quickly changing his hair color and facial features. Hank stared at Connor for a moment before dropping him on the ground. He couldn't see the child shaped machine starting to tear up as he stared at the detective scared.

"I-I'm sorry..." Hank didn't say anything, turning away from Connor, walking into the bathroom and shutting the for behind him. Sumo had been watching the incident curiously nudging Connor who pushed the dog away as he stood up. ''Not now Sumo." This wasn't fair. He just wanted to help Hank so why was he getting so angry.

'Because he hates you. You heard Hank. To him you're just a piece of plastic.' Connor thought, unable to tell himself this wasn't true. The bathroom door opened and Hank came out with Connor following but the lieutenant stopped him.

"This time you stay here."

"B-"

"I fucking mean it Connor or you'll spend the rest of the week in the evidence locker with all the freaks of science." Connor backed down and Hank stumbled out the door to his car. The android could hear the vehicle start before taking off. Connor stared out the window after him before glancing at the door. Fine. If the lieutenant didn't want him there, he'd be happy to leave.


	18. Taken

Connor shivered in the rain as he walked down the sidewalk, clutching the jacket he grabbed from Hank's closet tightly. The android hadn't really thought about what he was going to do but he did know his body was freezing. Spotting a bus stop nearby Connor retreated under the small shelter surrounding the bench. 

'Maybe I should just go back to Cyberlife. It'll probably be better for everyone.' Connor thought as he took a seat.

//_New Objective:

-Go to Cyberlife_//

Checking the time Connor saw it was 4:15. Searching the for the bus schedule he saw the next stop here wouldn't be for another half hour. Leaning back the android began to watch the sidewalk in front of him to see it was almost empty with three occasional car driving by. Putting his hands in the jacket's pocket Connor paused when he felt something. Pulling the item out he found it was one of the blow pops Hank had bought for him.

//_Brand: Blow Pop, Expiration Date 02/25/39, Flavor: Cherry, Sugar Content: 13 g_//

Looking it over he debated on what to do with the candy before tossing it into the nearby trash bin. He didn't want the sucker anymore.

"Are you okay?" Connor turned his head to see a man approach the bench curious. He was wearing a police officer uniform from the Detroit Police Department.

//Smith, Jacob

Detroit Police Officer, age 36

Criminal Record: credit card fraud_//

"Hey, you're that kid from the raid, Calvin?"

"Connor."

"Yeah, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with Hank." Connor didn't say anything to the officer who noticed the face he was making. 

"Hank....he doesn't want me around." Smith took a seat next to Connor who wiped his face his face as he felt himself tear up again. 

"I'm sorry...how about I take you back to the station and we'll see what we can do?"

"I don't know, what if Hank-"

"I'm sure he won't mind." The officer said grabbing Connor's hand with a smile. "My car's nearby, I'll give you a ride." The android couldn't pull away as he was lead to a nearby parked car. He found himself in the passenger seat of a car as they began to drive down the road with Officer Smith humming. Connor glanced around the car, watching the outside pass when he pulled up an internal map of the city.

"Officer Smith, the police station is the other way."

"We're taking a shortcut."

"Officer Smith, this a one way road. If we make a u-turn at the next traffic light-" Connor was cut off by the man jerking the car to a sudden halt jerking the android's body forward. His head hit the dashboard in front of him causing a small bruise on his synthetic skin. Connor was confused, watching the man reach into his holster and pull a gun out, pointing it at Connor.

"I don't think so."


	19. Lost and Confused

"Jesus Christ this place is a real shit show," Hank held his head in pain as he looked over the control panel of the broadcasting room that had been hijacked. He had found absolutely nothing about the androids who broke into the tower. 

'If you had Connor with you maybe you'd know something.' Hank's head was still pounding from the hangover but now that he was sober enough to remember what happened this morning he felt like shit. He'd hurt Connor and yelled at the kid. Something told him that the kid probably wouldn't want to help him anytime soon. And he wouldn't blame Connor after this morning. 

"Well detective Anderson, it seems you've come here for nothing," The FBI agent investigating the scene said with a smug smile that pissed the lieutenant off. "If you don't mind leaving and letting the professionals investigate?"

"Fuck off, it's not like you're gonna find anything either."

"We'll see about that." The agent turned and Hank glared at him before making his way to the elevator again. Taking out his phone Hank scrolled down to his home number and dialed it. It took a few rings before his voicemail picked up. 

'This is Hank Anderson, I'm not home or I don't want to talk to you. Maybe both. Either way, don't leave a message.'

Connor wasn't answering. Maybe he was in a different room? The elevator came to a halt and Hank exited, pocketing his phone in the process. Entering his car Hank began the drive home when he passed Rocky's Ice Cream Road and came to a stop. He wanted to apologise to Connor so maybe this would help. The bell above the door rang when he entered and the woman behind the counter smiled at Hank.

"Hank! It's good to see you again so soon!"

"Hey Edith, can I get a pint of Tutti Frutti?"

"Of course, for the kid?"

"Yeah...I need to apologise to him."

"Well there's no better way to do it than with ice cream," she smiled scooping the dessert into a container and handing it to the lieutenant. He began a to pull out his wallet but she pushed his hand down. "It's free this time."

"I couldn't-"

"Take it. I'm just happy to see you in here after what happened." Hank took the ice cream and left, not saying anything. Getting in his car the detective stared at the ice cream, remembering the last time he went to the store with Cole.  
~~

'Ugh dad, who likes tutti frutti?' Cole asked sitting next to his father on the bench just outside the store. His mint chocolate chip ice cream had begun to melt from the heat, spilling on his pants leg.

'What's wrong? It tastes just like the bubblegum.'

'It tastes gross.'

'I like it.'

'Yeah but that's because you're old. Old people like gross things.'

'Well you know what else I like?'

'What?' Hank proceeded to take his son's ice cream and take a huge bite out of it.

'Stealing ice cream.'

'No fair!' Cole tried snatching the ice cream back making Hank laugh before it fell on his lap. Cole stared for a moment before he but out laughing at the face his father made.

~~

Hank smiled at the memory before his car came to a stop in front of his house. Grabbing the ice cream pint he brought out his keys to open the door but was surprised to find it already slightly ajar. 

'I know I locked it,' Hank thought as his hand immediately retreated to his holster, gripping his gun tightly. Entering the house quietly the lieutenant found that everything looked normal, Sumo nearby sleeping on the couch. Closing the door behind him Hank set the ice cream down and called out.

"Connor?" No answer as he treaded further in to see the kitchen was empty too. Going from room to room Hank found that the whole house was empty with Connor nowhere in sight.


	20. Like Origami

"So tell me, so you know who the origami killer is?" The officer asked as he dragged the android out of the car. Connor's hands had been duct taped in front of him by the man who smiled at him. "What am I saying? Of course you know who he is. I heard about you in the office. You can look anything up in your head, right?" Connor didn't say anything as he looked the killer up in his head.

//_Origami Killer:

Name: Scott Shelby

Age: 44

Active From: 2009 to 2011

Targets: Boys between ages 9-13

Killing Method: Drowning after long periods of rain before abandoning the body with an origami figure in their hand_//

"Hey!" The man smacked Connor who was bright back to reality. "Answer me!"

"Y-yes." Connor remembered the magazine article from the Eden Club about an origami killer copycat. "You're the copycat?" Connor instantly regretted saying that as the man quickly turned around and punched the android in the chest. Connor fell to the ground gasping for air he couldn't breath. This was followed by a hard kick to his head, making it violently swing the other way into the wall. 

//_Biocomponents #3821, #4026, #4019, #3965 damaged: Seek help from the nearest human_//

"Don't you fucking call me that! I'm not a copycat, I'm just continuing what he started." Connor didn't say anything this time as he felt his processors begin to fuzz in and out of service. Trying to re enter something into his search engine he found it wasn't working. Error screens popped up covering Connor's line of sight before he pushed the notifications aside. He could clearly remember the case file showing the original victims had no external bruising. This man clearly didn't care about perfectly imitating the man. Connor was dragged along the floor as he tried to get his vision to focus again and recover from the pain he was in. 

"W-why are you doing this? I'm not human...and I don't have a father..." Connor winced. It hurt to speak.

"I know you're not human. But when the police come to investigate they won't suspect an officer anymore. They'll just think the killer accidentally picked an android up instead of a human boy. And as for your father, what would you call Hank?"

"I-he-"

"He really seemed to care about you at the Ortiz guy's house. I think he counts." Connor stared at the man as he stopped, dropping Connor to the floor.

"Why...why are you telling me this? When Hank comes he'll find out about everything."

"Hank's not going to come," the man said as he opened a grate on the floor that led to a small well. "I already know that poor excuse for a lieutenant probably isn't even going to make it through the first trial." He cut the the duct tape off Connor's hands before taking his phone out and snapping a picture of the now bruised Connor before pocketing the device. "But really, it's the thought that counts isn't it?" He shoved Connor down the well before bringing the grate down and locking it shut. Connor landed in an already forming pool of water, staring up at the police officer who snapped another picture with a smile. "I wonder, can androids swim?" Connor already knew the answer when the man walked away. The child sized android waited a few minutes to make sure the detective was gone before he started crying. He didn't want to die. Not like this.


	21. Letters

Gavin tossed the case file aside and tried his hardest not to bang his head against the desk as hard as he could. The Origami Killer copycat case had been eating at him ever since he was assigned to the case. At least three bodies had been found so far with the same origami figure in their hands. He couldn't stand to look at any of the boy's bodies anymore. This had been going on over the course of just seven months and every time it started to heavily rain a body would be found within just a few days. 

Glancing out the window Gavin saw the water falling from the sky and quickly turned back to his desk. There had to be a lead but there were no clues. No fingerprints, no video footage and no leads. At first he thought maybe an android had something to do with it, explaining the lack of physical evidence but that led to even more questions. Why would an android mimic the Origami Killer? If the killer is human, why did they willingly go with the person?

The only lead they had was that it was possibly a cop. Like in the original case it would have explained the children's willingness to follow without struggling. His internal investigation of the Detroit police station had turned up some leads but they all turned out to be dead ends. 

"-REED, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!" Gavin heard the voice of his drunken lieutenant as he came through the doors of the station.

"Christ, what the fuck do you want?" Gavin asked as he stood up, pursuing the files aside.

"Where the fuck is Connor?" Hank asked approaching the detective allowing him to smell the whiskey on his breath.

"How the hell should I know? You're the one watching him. Fuck, you smell like shit." 

"Don't tell me what I smell like," Hank said angrily as he grabbed Gavin by the shirt, "what I want to know is, where the fuck is Connor? I came home and he wasn't there. This is the only place he would go." Gavin paused when Hank said that.

"I thought you were supposed to take him with you everywhere."

"I left him at my house with the door locked." Gavin pushed the lieutenant away, glaring at him.

"You're shitting me right? Do you know how much trouble we could get in for losing that thing?"

"So he's not here?"

"No shit." Hank just stared at him blankly for a moment, making a face Gavin couldn't quite recognize. "I don't have the time for this-"

"Excuse me?" Gavin was cut off causing both him and Hank to turn to see an officer holding something. "L-lieutenant Anderson?"

"What the fuck do you want Smith?"

"S-somebody left this letter for you," the man handed an envelope to Hank, "it was at the front desk." The man scurried off and Hank looked over the envelope. It was blank with the exception of Hank's name in bold print on the front. 

"The fuck?" Hank mumbled, ripping the envelope open causing a key to fall on the floor. He kneeled down to pick it up before unfolding the letter.

'When the parents came home from church,

all their children were gone.

They searched and called for them,

they cried and begged,

but it was all to no avail.

The children have never been seen again.'

"What the hell is this?" Hank asked looking it over again before Gavin snatched the letter or of his hands.

"The Origami Killer Copycat. He has Connor."


	22. Reluctance

Connor stared at the crumbling walls that surrounded him. His head was buzzing from a combination of the water exposure and the blow to his head. This android model was not meant for water and instead of floating he'd just sink to the bottom. The police technician at the station said most of his internal hardware was that of his physical model. Which meant he probably had artificial lungs. Connor didn't understand why someone would build a body like this. But then again who would expect someone to try and drown what looked like a child?

'A sick fuck, that's who,' Hank's voice rang in Connor's head. He missed Hank. Curling up Connor buried his face in his knees. He missed Hank treating him like a child. He missed ice cream. He missed Sumo. He missed not caring whether he was going to die or not. 

Connor knew he was deviant. There was no other way to explain the actual emotions he was feeling. He hated it. Why did he have to feel like an actual person? He wouldn't be here if he didn't get scared and run away. Connor's hand touched the edge of the well he was trapped in and he looked up. Even if he did climb up he couldn't get the grate open. Leaning against the wall his hand absent mindedly reached into his pocket in search of a blowpop to be greeted by nothing.

 

~~

Hank barely registered the words Gavin said. 

 

'He has Connor.'

 

This didn't seem real. Connor has been kidnapped by a serial killer. Because he left him alone. 

 

"He probably thought Connor was your son." Gavin said as he looked over the case files on his desk but Hank's eyes were only glued to the photos of the three dead children on the computer screen. All drowned to death with an origami figure found in their dead hands. Could Connor drown? Maybe. Or maybe the killer would figure out he couldn't and shoot him. Or stab him. Or-

 

"Hey, Anderson are you fucking listen to me?" The lieutenant was snapped back to reality by Detective Reed who was staring at him. "We need to go to the train station and find the locker that goes with this key."

"And play right into this sick fuck's hands? I thought you were supposed to be investigating this but then again with you on the case I'm not surprised we don't know shit." Gavin stood up grabbing and shoved Hank into the wall sorry a glare.

 

"You don't think I'm trying? You think I'm happy that kids are dying because of me? I don't have to look into this Hank. Connor isn't even a real kid as why should I care?"

"Listen asshole," Hank practically growled, shoving Gavin back, "Connor is real. He's probably scared out of his God damn mind."

"He's just programmed to think he's scared. I bet he's happy to just be with someone who isn't you. You shouldn't have been a father the first time, I'm surprised-" As soon as Cole was mentioned Hank couldn't stop his first from connecting with Detective Reed's jaw. 

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY FUCKING SON YOU PIECE OF SHIT-"

"What the fuck is going on out here?!" The two officers looked up to see Captain Fowler glaring at them. 

"He-"

"He-"

"You know what? I don't care, get the fuck back to work unless you both want to face disciplinary action." The two stared at each other as he slammed his office for shut behind him. Hank reluctantly pulled away from Gavin still fuming while Gavin collected himself.

"....sorry," Gavin mumbled, not looking at Hank. "Listen I'm trying, this is our best choice if we want to find Connor. If we work together on this maybe there's a chance we'll catch the killer."

"Fine but don't expect me to enjoy this." Gavin grabbed his keys but Hank stopped him. "Uh-uh, we're using my car."


	23. New Directions

The two detectives pulled to a stop in front of the train station and Hank hesitantly got out of the car followed by Gavin. Entering they were greeted by a smiling android that Gavin shoved out of the way. Hank frowned at this but knew he didn't have the time to stop and ask him not to. 

"Which locker?" Gavin asked as game brought out the key.

"#36." Making their way over to the locker they inserted the key where they saw a shoe box. Pulling it out Hank lifted the lid to show an older mobile phone, a memory card, a set of origami figures and a gun. 

"The hell?" Gavin asked taking out the gun as Hank grabbed the memory card knowing he'd have to put it in the phone. Despite knowing what he was going to see, Hank still wasn't ready when the live video footage of Connor popped up on screen. The childlike face was now buried between his knees with tears falling down his face. Hank's heart tired in guilt as he noticed how quickly the water level was rising. Even if Connor was just programmed to feel, he didn't deserve to slowly die alone and terrified.

'How far will you go to save someone you love?'

The text popped on screen followed by a new message.

'I see you brought Detective Reed with you.'

'I wouldn't recommend tell anyone else.'

'And no androids.'

"What the fuck? This is the same gun we have."

"So?" Hank asked annoyed as he turned his attention back to the origami figures.

"So, only police officers have these types of guns."

"You do know that it's one of the most trafficked guns on the street, right?"

"Maybe it's a clue or something. Or if we're lucky our killer might have just been a dumb ass cop."

"You really think after all this effort he's gone through he'd be stupid enough to make a mistake like that?" Hank asked as Gavin popped the barrel out to reveal only two bullets but in the third chamber was a piece of folded up paper. Taking it out the detective read it out loud for Hank.

''A test of courage for the man who loved to play roulette by himself, now you can share the game with your son to make this a little more fun-roulette? What the fuck is he talking about?" Hank opened his mouth to answer but the phone beeped again with a new message.

'Recognize the gun Lieutenant?'

'I found it especially for you.'

'But that's besides the point, your probably wouldn't want to put off finding Connor anymore would you?'

It took a few moments before the GPS on the phone turned on automatically with a pre-determined destination.

'Get going, you have a time limit. And tell Officer Reed I send my love.'

Gavin followed the lieutenant back to his car still wondering what the note had meant. 

~~

Connor felt his head shaking in confusion as he tried standing up. His head injury was starting to affect his core system and if something wasn't done fast he knew there was a high chance of shutting down. The man had yet to come back and probably wouldn't for a while giving him some time to try and escape. He glanced up at the locked grate a few feet up from him. 

First he needed to get up there. Arms spread out, Connor embedded his fingers into the cement fixture surrounding him and carefully using his legs he began to maneuver his way up.


	24. The Bat pt. 1

Connor grunted as his right leg slipped below him with the falling of the cement edge beneath his foot. Holding tightly with his hands Connor used his now thirium covered hands to lift his small body up further. Every part of his body felt like it was on fire as he carefully swung his leg up to the next crack in the cement fixture as he moved his hands up to now grip the grate of the well above him. Pulling at it Connor wasn't surprised that it was locked and his processor raced with possible solutions when he looked behind him to see the rusted hinges holding the cover down. Tugging at bars above him the hinges moved slightly making a loud creaking noise in the process. 

Eyes widening in realization Connor wrapped his other hand around the bars and began rapidly pulling and tugging at the bars the hinges continuing to lose their hold before one loud, final crack and Connor's body shifted as the grate fell down and was only held up by the bars he was currently gripping. Closing his eyes Connor swung himself to the edge of the well and lifted the upper half of his body out of hole in the ground. His small legs flailed to catch up with rest of his body as hoisted the rest of his body above ground with loud gasping noises of pain.

Now resting on the ground he felt a smile cross his face, relieved as his processors buzzed in and out tiredly. His soaking wet clothing clung to his body as rain fell down on his face from the hole in the roof above him. Struggling to sit up he leaned against the wall and began to make his way to the entrance when he heard the sound of a car pull up to the abandoned warehouse.

~~

Hank drove the car to the parking garage, his hands gripping the edge of the wheel tightly. Gavin was in the passenger seat looking through the phone they had been given. 

-Gavin doesn't get to leave now Lieutenant, if he tries anything you'll never see Connor again

Hank was ready to find the asshole who took the Connor and shoot him in the fucking face. There was no way in hell he was going to let this asswipe fuck get away with this.

"I think this is the place," Gavin said as Hank pulled the car over to the side of the road in front of an old parking garage. "We've been investigating the place for months now but the security footage was tampered with or erased all together and the drones we had watching the place never caught anything."

"And you don't have one watching not because?"

"Apparently they're better used for speeding tickets."

"The Detroit police department at work," Hank muttered entering the building with Gavin behind him. The place was almost completely empty with the exception of an older Pontiac car in the middle of the garage. Getting in the vehicle Hank saw a GPS waiting with pre-programmed coordinates in the car. Gavin snorted as he slammed the door behind him. 

"Got the year model wrong, it was a 1995 model, not a 2005."

"Gavin, do me a favor and shut up."

"Just saying, he really-" Gavin was cut off by the GPS making a noise as it turned on, the doors locking.

"Hello Lieutenant Anderson, turn right onto the I-75 freeway so we can begin the challenge." Hank started the car, key already in ignition and they got on the highway. "Tell me what would you do to save the one you loved?"

"I've lost one son, I'm not going to lose Connor too."

"Then let's see if your still to save him is enough to save you."

"What the fuck?!" Hank looked up to see Gavin staring at the windows as a completely black screen began to slowly cover all of the windows making it impossible to see.

"I like to call this challenge the bat. You'll have to rely solely on the GPS for directions. You have five minutes to get to the destination before you lose. Have fun."


	25. Drowning

Smith seethed as he pulled his car to a stop in front of the warehouse. He was fucking pissed. The fucking lieutenant still treated him like shit, brushing him off when he had the letter that could mean life or death for that stupid android. It's not like Hank was going to even make it past the trials so it's not cheating if he gets rid of the damn thing right? 

Loading his gun Jacob got out of the car, a smile crossing his face. He was actually kind of happy Gavin was with the lieutenant, two assholes with one stone. Of course he'd have to be careful after this, maybe lay low for a while so no one got too suspicious. He could just pass the blame for the destroyed drones on the deviants and no one would think anything. 

"Connor," the police officer called out in a somewhat song voice, "guess what I have for you-what the fuck?!" Officer Smith froze in front of the well in the ground. The grate was now broken with Connor nowhere in sight. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit-"

'How did he even get out of this?' Officer Smith began to look around the room in a panic. He almost forgot that the thing that got out wasn't an actual child despite it's looks. Moving some cardboard boxes aside he turned to hear something rustling when he was shoved aside by the child sized android. It took the officer a moment before he got back up and chased after the figure. No way in fuck he was going to be beaten by some broken piece of plastic.

~~

"-Turn left."

"I AM TURNING LEFT YOU STUPID MACHINE!"

"YOU'RE GOING RIGHT DUMBASS-here, let me drive-"

"FUCK OFF REED!"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE TODAY!" The car the two detectives were in swerved, unable to see where they were going. The pedal seemed to be stuck, not allowing them to go under sixty miles an hour. The lieutenant gripped the wheel tightly while Gavin buried his nails in the in dashboard.

"Make a u-turn at the next stop sign."

"WE CAN'T SEE THE FUCKING STOP SIGN!!"

"Make a u-turn." The car screeched as Hank turned the vehicle, feeling the back end of the automobile hit something with a loud crunch before speeding away. The whole ride back was aware of the traffic that was trying to get out of their way with blaring horns. Hank was almost sure he was in the middle of a panic attack, glancing between the wheel and the counting down timer. Fifty eight seconds left. 

 

"Turn left and your destination will be on the right." Hank quickly spun the wheel and suddenly felt them go off the road into...

 

"FUCK-WE'RE IN WATER?!" Gavin screamed as Hank lost control of the wheel after the loud splash. The vehicle swayed as it began to sink down, water spilling in through cracks of the vehicle. 

 

"Welcome to the Detroit River. Try to get out soon or you'll find yourself rolling in the deep." The GPS turned off automatically and Hank stared at the screen when there was a clicking noise from the drawer on the passenger side. Opening it Hank pulled out a chip with the next clue and pocketed it.

 

"THAT JOKE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!" Gavin panicked, trying to break the window with his elbow. Hank grabbed his gun and began to pound at the window with it, slowly cracking it causing more water to spill in. After a few tries they finally broke through the window. The water began to rush in, Gavin climbing out into the river with Hank close behind. The two detectives swam up and as the lieutenant's head rose above the water line, him gasping for air. The shore was nearby allowing him to easily crawl back on land, shivering from the cool air. Gavin was already there, laying on his back as he heaved, wet clothes clinging to his body.

 

"Jesus fucking Christ... This is insane..." Hank ignored officer Reed and instead plugged the chip into the phone. He needed to find Connor.


	26. Highway Trouble

Connor's LED swirled red as his body carried him through the nothingness back to the city. The Android wasn't even sure he was going the right direction but he didn't care. He needed to get away from the man after him. Back to Detroit police station. To Hank. He could almost feel the officer behind him when Connor's head perked up at the noise of a nearby highway. 

"Hey!" Connor was grabbed from behind by officer Smith, the man yanking him back. The Android yelled, flailing his arms around in a weak attempt to escape. Connor's elbow connected with the man's face and he let go, holding his face in pain. Connor didn't notice at he sprinted to the highway, trying to wave for attention from any of the passing cars who would've thought he was an actual child. 

In his panicked haze Connor didn't notice his body stumble into the middle of the highway as a car came directly towards him. The vehicle tried to stop but they only slowed down, hitting the android hard enough to send his body flying back down to the ground. Connor's eye sight dimmed as static overwhelmed his eye sight, switching only occasionally to see what was going on around him. Everything was in pain and the noise around him seemed more muted, shocks of sound harshly penetrating his sensors. He was vaguely aware that he was being lifted up but he couldn't raise a hand to protest.

~~

Smith elbowed his way past the man and woman who were gathered around the android. Blue blood was splattered everywhere and while he was still alive, shown by his still moving chest and working LED, Connor looked like shit. 

"What the hell-"

"That thing it just came out of nowhere, Jesus, I tried to stop, I swear." Smith didn't respond to the man, instead picking up the broken android. It tried to push against his hold but he ignored the machine. "Do you need help? I can give you a lift somewhere-"

"Fuck off." The officer was glad he was in his civilian clothes right now. Less evidence to trace back to him and it allowed him to avoid being written up for snapping at someone. Looking forward to at the android who began to emit weird croaking noises, like it was trying to say something despite the damage. Smith had to admit he was tempted just to abandon the thing here and let it bleed out.

On the other hand he remembered the conviction Hank showed through the first trial. If he actually did make it to the end he'd love to watch the lieutenant's face as he shot the android in the face before killing the other man too. 

"H...hurr...ts..." The android choked out as Smith reached the car. It's eyes struggled to look at him and for a moment he paused. It almost looked...human...

Shaking his head the man pushed his thoughts down and laid Connor down in the trunk of his car before pulling out his phone and taking a picture. Maybe this would encourage Hank to try and get there before Connor shut down completely.


	27. Error in Judgement

"Lieutenant Anderson,'' the digitized voice over the phone spoke as Hank wrung out his jacket on the beach, "I have to be honest, I didn't expect you or officer Reed to survive."

"Fuck. Off."

"Don't be so rude Lieutenant Anderson, after all, you don't want me to hurt Connor anymore do you?"

"What the fuck did you do to Connor?" There was a moment before a new image file appeared in the phone. Hesitating, Hank clicked on the file and froze when he saw a picture of Connor in the trunk of a car, his body looked almost broken with his right arm in a disjointed the wrong way. Blue thirium covered his entire body and his LED flashed red with his brown eyes glazed over.

"I didn't do anything, it tried to run away and got hurt in the process. I'd suggest you two hurry before the android bleeds out."

"YOU BASTARD, I'LL-"

"Listen to me or I'll scrap what's left." Hank seethed, clenching the phone tightly. "Now I have the coordinates for your next location programmed in the GPS. There's going to be someone there I'm sure you recognize," the GPS map pulled itself up, "Remember, time's running out." The call cut out and Hank was left staring at the screen when Gavin walked over, taking his soaking shirt off.

"What was that about?" He glanced at the phone and raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell does he want us to go to an abandoned hospital?"

~~

"-come on-"

"-just-"

"-shit-"

//_System_Shutdown in:_//

Connor's consciousness returned as another electric shock passed through his body making his chest jolt up.

"Jesus Christ finally, thought you shut down for good." Connor's eyes moved over to see his kidnapper with an almost relieved look on his face. He closed his eyes and hissed in pain, his body remembering the injuries that had previously been inflicted. Fuzzy memories of a car rushing towards him bounced around in the android's head. The unexpected smack to his head made Connor's head spin as he tried to sit up but his body refused to listen. "You almost ruined everything, I swear to God you're lucky I didn't just leave you in the side of the road." 

Connor opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

//_Error: Voice box, severely damaged. Please seek help from the nearest human_//

Connor wanted to cry but nothing seemed to work like he wanted. His eyes were the only exception as they nervously darted around the dark room they were in. It wasn't the warehouse, instead it looked like a house. He was lying on a bed and everything in the room was covered with a thin layer of dust. Combined with the boarded up windows and the lack of any other interior decorations it was easy to deduce that this place was probably abandoned. 

The man made a noise before leaving the room and Connor closed his eyes, imaging Hank walking through that door any second despite the pit in his chest that told him it wasn't likely.


End file.
